In a June interview with Reuters at Moonlite BunnyRanch, his brothel near his home in Pahrump, Nevada, Hof said his political fortunes had parallels with those of President Donald Trump. “This really is the Trump movement,” Hof said.

“People will set aside for a moment their moral beliefs, their religious beliefs, to get somebody that is honest in office.”

The Nye County Sheriff’s Office said Hof was found dead last month at one of his properties in Crystal, Nevada. It was not immediately clear what caused his death.

Friends found him dead when they went to wake him for a meeting hours after his 72nd birthday party, his campaign manager, Chuck Muth, said on Twitter. He said Hof appeared to have died in his sleep.

The thrice-divorced author of “The Art of the Pimp,” who appeared on HBO’s “Cathouse,” owned a strip club and five legal brothels in Nevada, the only U.S. state with legalized prostitution.